


Now What do I do?

by DietCokeofEvil



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Career Change, F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:48:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23246533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DietCokeofEvil/pseuds/DietCokeofEvil
Summary: This fic was written for Weasleys, Witches, & Writers Facebook group’s Flash Comp. My chosen main character is Ginny Weasley, and the prompt for this Edition was Careers.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30
Collections: Weasleys Writing War - Flash Comp Edt 2





	Now What do I do?

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [WeasleysWitchesWriters](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeasleysWitchesWriters/pseuds/WeasleysWitchesWriters) in the [WeasleysWritingWar_FlashCompEdt2](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/WeasleysWritingWar_FlashCompEdt2) collection. 



> I do not own anything in the Harry Potter universe. I want to thank my Alpha/Beta, who shall remain nameless for now, for their work on this story.

Ginevra Potter sat in their private box watching her former team, the Holyhead Harpies warming up before the match, absently stroking her growing belly as she did. She had retired. Officially retired. She had announced it while still in the haze of overjoyed baby emotions, but now, watching her former teammates, she wondered if she had made the right decision. It’s not that she wasn’t happy to be pregnant. She and Harry had married right after she finished at Hogwarts (Mum insisted), and they both worked hard, both at their careers and on making their home in Godric’s Hollow fit for the children they knew they wanted to have.

They had planned on waiting a few more years since Ginny was in her prime for Quidditch and didn’t want to give it up quite yet, but one drunken night and a forgotten potion changed that plan for her rather quickly. Harry was of two minds about it- he was ecstatic to be having a child, but he also knew that Ginny had wanted to wait a few more years and he felt guilty that Ginny was having to retire before she wanted to. He watched her as she gazed longingly at the pitch, wondering if coming to the game had been a good idea. “Hey,” he said as he put his arm around her. “You ok?”

“I guess,” sighed Ginny. “They put Rogers in as my replacement. She still needs a lot of work.”

“We could go home,” said Harry. “You know the reporters are going to be bothering you after the game.” He didn’t mind reporters talking to Ginny as a rule, but the questions they were asking since her retirement bordered on cruel. He had almost punched one for asking Ginny if the baby was Harry’s or some Quidditch blokes. It still amazed Harry how insensitive reporters could be.

“No, I want to watch,” said Ginny. “Coach asked me to watch and then maybe help as an assistant coach for the rest of the season.” Harry looked over to see a tear trickling down Ginny’s cheek. He wiped the tear away silently, remembering how he felt when he had been banned from Quidditch in sixth year. “I hate this,” she continued quietly. “I feel resentful because I want to be playing, but I can’t because I’m pregnant, and then I feel bad for feeling that way because it’s not the baby’s fault. I’m a terrible mother.”

“That’s not true,” said Harry. “You know, you don’t have to retire. We can work something out if you want to keep playing. Molly would take the baby any time- you’ll probably have to wrestle her to get him back.”

Ginny smiled at the thought. “I know. But no. You already have a dangerous job. My shoulder has never been the same after that bludger last season- I don’t want to risk permanent injury.” She sighed again. “I’m just hormonal, I guess.” Harry was glad she said it. He had learned the hard way to not suggest baby hormones as a cause for Ginny’s moods and was reluctant to say anything. “I know I’m doing the right thing; I just don’t want to be like Mum. Staying home was fine for her, but that’s not for me. But what else can I do?”

“You know I don’t expect you to be your mum, and I know you’ll find something,” said Harry. He kissed her and rubbed her swollen belly, hoping to feel a kick. It hadn’t happened yet, but Ginny said it would soon. 

………

As expected, the Potters were hit with a barrage of reporters at the end of the match, which the Harpies had won. Ginny wanted to go to the locker room and congratulate her former teammates and they were hit with question after question. _“Mrs. Potter, are you jealous that your team won without you?” “Mrs. Potter, is your husband making you retire and stay home with the baby?” “Mrs. Potter, is it true that the Harpies were going to dump you anyway, so you got pregnant to save face?”_ Ginny gritted her teeth at these questions and tried to remain calm. Reporters were the absolute worst. The questions they asked, and the critical write-ups after the game were usually filled with so many inconsistencies that Ginny would be surprised if any of those people knew which end of a broom was up. After she visited with the girls for a little while and spoke with the coach, she was ready to go home.

………

“Ridiculous.” Harry threw down the Prophet’s sports section and watched Ginny snatch it up to read. After her tenth eye roll, she put the paper down, disgusted.

“Were they even at the game?” she asked as she poked at her breakfast. “They got the player's names wrong, their play by play is completely off-kilter, and it’s so tedious, I wouldn’t line an owl cage with it in case the owl dies of boredom whilst pooping on it. What happened to the way games were written about when I was a kid? Not everyone can go see games or hear them on the WWN. The articles used to be exciting. The reporters used to care about what they wrote and took the time to get facts straight. Now it’s all about in-fighting, gossip and ad revenue. They spent so much of this claptrap talking about Gwenog Jones’ new boyfriend and dropping Quality Quidditch Supplies mentions in that they almost forgot to say who won the game.”

Harry was watching Ginny as she ranted about the shortcomings of the Daily Prophet and smiled. “Maybe you should take over.”

“What?”

“You’re a good writer,” he continued. “You know the game, and you know the right questions to ask to get the right answers. You should be a Quidditch reporter.”

“Get serious.” Ginny looked at him doubtfully and then looked at the paper again. Maybe he was onto something.

Harry took her hand. “I think you’d be great at it. It would keep you close to the game, you’d still get to travel, and you know how to talk to the players, so you’ll get all the great stories.”

Ginny sat back in her chair and looked into her husband’s earnest face. It wasn’t a bad idea at that, and she knew she would have her family’s support. “Thanks, Harry.”

**Ten years later**

Ginny gazed over at her and Ron’s families as they cheered the opening mascot show from the VIP box and felt an elbow dig into her side. She turned to find Rita Skeeter grinning at her and groaned inwardly knowing that Rita would find some way to inject something about Harry or her kids into the game. She was here doing the play by play from the Journalists' box and had been having a great time until that old hag had reared her ugly head. 

They kept up a running commentary to their quote quills, Rita’s poison green and Ginny’s bright blue (that did NOT embellish the truth) with Ginny concentrating on the game and Rita commenting on personalities in attendance, the Bulgarian Veela mascots…anything but what was happening on the pitch, which made Ginny roll her eyes every time Rita spoke.

As Bulgaria won the match, Ginny was able to make her final report. “Ms. Skeeter seems to have suddenly taken ill. I’m not certain what happened, but it looks like a possible jinx to the solar plexus. Shame that. Get well soon Rita. Anyway, congratulations to the Bulgarian National Quidditch team headed by Viktor Krum on their well-earned victory. We at the Daily Prophet hope you have enjoyed our play by play commentary on the World Cup. Stay tuned for some after game interviews with the new World Cup Champions!

FIN


End file.
